Introduction @ How to use this handbook ‘This is the textbook for Part Four of the German by radio course Deutsch — warum nicht? Like the first three parts, it is designed primarily as a reference book, not as a teach-yourself book. Always try to listen to the radio broadcasts before you refer to the lessons in the handbook. ‘The listening exercises will help you to concentrate on what is most important in each lesson. That means listening to find out where the scene is taking place, who is speaking to whom, what the characters are talking about and what sort of mood they are in. Try to concentrate on these questions and remember that you do not have to understand every single word. Some of the lessons in Part Four do not contain any listening exercises. Instead, the emphasis is on providing background information on the subject in question. @ What is new in Part Four? Part Four focuses on the five eastern states of the Federal Republic of Germany — Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and ‘Thuringia — which encompass what was formerly the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). They are often referred to as the “new” states because they joined the eleven “old” states of the Federal Republic (West Germany) when Germany was reunited in 1990. Background information about the rich history, culture and geography of these states is provided as an introduction. The five lessons devoted to the states in eastern Germany are presented in the form of tadio reports compiled by Andreas. In each case, they are followed by lessons which concentrate on individual aspects of the state in question — the country- side, industries, crafts and culture. These lessons are presented in the form of interviews, stories or poems. Most of the main characters in the first three parts of the language course reappear in Part Four. — Andreas: Andreas is the student who used to work part-time as a porter at the Hotel Europa. He has finished his studies and is now compiling radio reports on the new federal states in eastern Germany.— Ex: Ex is an imaginary figure. She is an elf and is invisible, although she cannot be overlooked. — Dr. Thirmann: Dr, Thiirmann has given up his practice in Berlin and retired to his home town of Leipzig. He devotes his time to writing articles on homeopathy. — Frau Berger: Frau Berger is the former manageress of the Hotel Europa in Aachen. She has sold the hotel and would like to buy a hotel in eastern Germany because she wants to try something new. She sometimes accom- panies Andreas on his travels. — Hanna Clasen: Hanna is the chambermaid at the Hotel Europa. She is going to get married and is giving up her job. ‘The structure of the broadcasts is the same as in the first three parts of the course. First you hear the dialogues or reports, then they are explained. This is followed by an explanation of the grammar, after which you have another opportunity to listen to the dialogues or reports. ‘The texts in Part Four are a little more difficult than in the first three parts of the course. At the beginning of Part Four the main characters are introduced once again for listeners who have not followed the first three parts of the course. @ Contents of the handbook A Information about individual federal states 1. Asummary of grammar Here the main grammar points which occur in each lesson are summarised. ‘The grammar is explained in detail with examples from each lesson. In many lessons the grammar is followed by background information about the sub- ject in question. 2. The texts in each lesson The texts, which take the form of radio reports, dialogues, explanations, interviews or poems, are given in German after the summary of grammar. As an aid to comprehension, they are introduced by a brief summary in English. So if you miss one of the broadcasts, you can read up the lesson in the book. 3. Exercises Most of the exercises deal with grammar points but you will also find com- prehension exercises, vocabulary exercises — such as crossword puzzles — and exercises on the correct use of words and expressions. The compre- hension exercises require you to listen to the lessons and decide which of the statements in the exercises contain the correct information. If neces- sary, you can refer to the dialogues which are printed in full in each lesson. The answers to most of the exercises can be found in the key at the back of the book. The key to the exercises contains solutions to those exercises where only one correct answer is possible. When exercises require freer formulations, sug- gestions are included in the key. In cases where you are asked to formulate your answers completely freely, no answers are given in the key.ee B Summary of grammar ‘The new grammar introduced in Part Four is summarised in this section. The main grammar points dealt with in Part Four are: — Subordinate clauses: indirect questions, adverbial clauses of time intro- duced by wenn, subordinate clauses introduced by um ... 2, obwoblor damit, relative clauses, conditional clauses, clauses containing an infini- tive construction — The conditional tense and the imperfect subjunctive of seinand haben and modal verbs — Reflexive verbs, pronominal adverbs (damit, davon, dariiber ...), the comparison of adjectives C Key to the exercises ‘The key should be used to check whether you have completed the exercises in each lesson correctly. D Translations of the dialogues The translations of the dialogues are intended as an aid to comprehension, particularly if you have not followed the first three parts of the course and you are not familiar with the vocabulary or grammar which has already been introduced. E Alphabetical list of vocabulary This contains all the new words introduced in Part Four. Words which occurred in the first three parts of the course are not listed here. The number of the lesson in which the word first occurs is entered in brackets after each word. As you may already know, this language course is broadcast throughout the world in many different languages. For this reason we regret that it is not possible to take specific features of your country, culture or language into consideration. But we trust that you will be the best judge of the differences and similarities between German and your own language. T hope you will have a lot of fun and success learning German with Deutsch ~ warum nicht? Herrad Meese